2020 – what a year, right?
With restrictions now easing in Victoria (happy dance for face-mask free treatments!) and the rest of Australia and New Zealand gearing up for the holidays, word on the street from our clients is that “every week is a Christmas week from now until the new year”.
What that means for businesses is a chock-a-block appointment book, constantly crowded front desks and a roster that looks like a who’s-who of your team zoo – everyone on, all the time.
To make life a little easier (and preparing for this period a bit less daunting) we’ve pulled together the key features you should have up and running in Shortcuts that can help. Because don’t we all deserve a bit of help this year?
Get your online bookings firing.
The data from our software is telling us that in ANZ, 50% of bookings are being made within a week before the appointment, and 37% are made outside of trading hours – so you need to be ready for the rush and have your Online Booking set up and ready to go.
🔥🔥 Show me how to get Online Booking firing 🔥🔥
Make gifting super simple.
Who doesn’t love a life hack? Make life easy for your clients by adding in gifting options – so when they’re visiting you for their silly season touch-ups, they can tick some Chrissy presents off their lists as well.
From bundling up retail stock into festive hamper options, to packaging up pamper appointment deals and making sure you have Online Gift Cards set up (for all those last-minute digital-gifters), your clients will love you for making their life just a little bit easier #payitforward. And don’t forget to tell them about it! Set up a campaign email in your Shortcuts Marketing to promote your festive deals.
🎁🎁 Get Online Gift Cards set up today 🎁🎁
Speaking of Marketing…
Now is the time to triple check your appointment reminders, confirmations and any pre-arrival messages you’ve got set up are firing. Or maybe you still need to set them up? Don’t worry, we’ve all got those things on the To Do list that we just never get around to.
But seriously, now is the time. Having these campaigns set up in Shortcuts Marketing will save you serious time – and right now, time equals serious $$$. Plus, it’s one less thing to think about right?!
📧📧 Show me how to set up automated Marketing 📧📧
More ways to make $$$
Time equals $$$ has never been more true than right now. Having your team servicing clients is the most important thing they can be doing. When there’s client clamoring to get an appointment on your books, why waste your team’s time having them fiddle around with appointment reminders, or worse – waiting for no-shows, grr!
We’ve got some brilliant payments features you NEED to set up, to make sure your appointment book runs as smoothly as possible.
❌❌ Set up Cancellations ❌❌ – this little ball-buster allows you to charge a cancellation fee if someone bails on an appointment. You can set everything to suit your business, from the fee you will charge, to the time period they need to cancel within.
🤑🤑 Get Upfront Payments turned on 🤑🤑 – anticipating clients fighting over precious appointment times? No one wants to miss out – so take a deposit by way of Upfront Payments, to ensure that those valuable appointment slots go to people who are serious about showing up.
While we’re talking Payments…
Another brilliant idea our developers have been working hard to make ready is Cardless Checkout. Are you dreading that hustle-and-bustle of the front desk during a peak period? We can fix that…
Cardless Checkout is a brand new feature that will let you charge a “card on file” for an appointment, meaning your client can hop out of the chair and head straight out the door. Think uber-style payments, in your business.
💲💲 Give me Cardless Checkout please! 💲💲
Sort your socials, stat.
The last thing you want to be thinking about at the end of the day is what you’re going to post on social media. But you know how important it is, right?!
If you missed our latest Masterclass (don’t worry, you can watch it back here) we revealed that 70% of hair and beauty businesses have increased their social media activity during and after COVID-19, to keep in touch with their clients and provide regular updates. Now is not the time to let those great habits go. Studies show that regular posting is the best way to beat the tricky algorithms Facebook and Instagram use that control what gets shown in the feed.
Luckily, Social Sorted saw this mega-busy holiday period coming and they’ve released a whopper 3-month content calendar for you as part of their November issue – plus, each month they create the images and captions you need to just fill in the gaps, copy, paste and post!
📲📲 Did we mention you can join right now for free? 📲📲
So there you have it – our top tips to get your salon ready for the silly season, all using features available in your Shortcuts system. Got questions or need help setting anything up? Get in touch with our lovely Customer Care team today and they’ll get you on track.
✅✅ ICYMI ✅✅ – we created a little holiday list, checked it twice and gave it to you guys! Download it here and get your salon ready for the silly season, like TODAY.
